UPDATE: Sears Canada closing 59 of its stores across Canada

Sears Canada will be closing more than half of its store locations across the country, amid seeking court protectionand restructuring its company.

This will impact 2,900 employees, the retailer said in a statement Thursday.

In B.C. the retailer will be closing its doors in Grand Forks, Kamloops, Sechelt, Creston and Abbotsford. More than 10 stores will be closed in Alta., including its Calgary, Spruce Grove and Red Deer locations.

Shares in the company were halted Thursday morning, after the retailer announced it would be seeking protection from its creditors.

Within the last year, the retailer has lost more than 80 per cent of its value.

Just last week, the company warned there was “significant doubt” about its future, and that putting it up for sale or undergoing a restructuring could happen. The retailer said in a statement restructuring will happen in a “timely fashion” with a goal of exiting the CCAA protection within the year.

Roughly 17,000 people are employed through Sears Canada, which opened in 1952. The retailers has 95 full-size department stores and 23 Sears Home stores as of April.